KISS

I'll Allow It

There's no doubt that people like to take the distinctive silhouette of Hello Kitty and wrap it in the colors and accessories of other media properties, particularly ones with tones wildly divergent from "cute animal people doing cute things." Sometimes those mashups are even created by Sanrio themselves, like when they created Hello Kitty merchandise in the likeness of each member of the band KISS.
And now, as Sanrio partners with KISS and The Hub television channel for Kiss Hello Kitty, a cartoon show, announced today, which is apparently already in production.
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It's hard to imagine the pitch to get the band KISS to endorse toilet paper. Or maybe it was just "this will make you money, probably" and that was enough. Sanrio, the company behind Hello Kitty merchandise, is willing to brand just about anything and it looks like they've met their match. KISS-themed Hello Kitty designs can now be found on the stuff people flush after use.

Craigslist has brought us a great many wonderful things, and now this: A 1970 Volkswagen Beetle, heavily modified to resemble KISS bassist Gene Simmons. All it takes is $10,000 and an open mind.
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Excelsior!

We all know that Joss Whedon's upcoming Avengers movie is not the first live-action appearance of the Marvel superheroes. But what if there had been already been an attempt at an Avengers movie, back when the Hulk had a TV show, and when Paul Lynde was a superstar? It may not have made it further than the small screen, but this amazingly "imagineered" version of a made-for-TV (in 1987) Avengers movie -- featuring Hawkeye from M.A.S.H. as Hawkeye and KISS as the featured villains -- is a glimpse of what could have been.
I will wonder forever if, had this movie actually been made, Joss Whedon's movie would have been different from what is coming to theaters on May 4. The world may never know.
(via BuzzFeed)
Previously in The Avengers

Gene Simmons has a lot more going on upstairs than you might think. In a recent interview with Industry Gamers, the legendary long-tongued bassist for KISS showed his business accumen while discussing the various projects he's working on, including a digital translation service called Orstbo (did you know Simmons speaks five languages? Crazy!). Dear to his heart is an effort to take the KISS brand to places it has never been before, such as a Hello Kitty line and appearing in Archie Comics. However, Simmons dropped a real bunker buster by saying that he's working on an Angry Birds deal. Yes, that Angry Birds.Read More

Thank You?

Kiss is about to get all up in our business, almost literally. That, right there, is a condom, currently on the market, with Gene Simmons' "unfurled" tongue on it, and it's headed straight for someone's bathing suit area. What's notable about it is that it's a condom with a full-color ad printed on it. And while pictures have appeared on condoms before, this is the first time it's been FDA-approved. Manufacturer Graphic Armor Inc. says they are the first to offer up such a product. (A Paul Stanley condom will be released later this year.) But if pictures on condoms aren't your thing, and you still want to jump on the celebrity condom train, go to a Ke$ha concert, where she will ejaculate rubbers with her face on the wrapper all over her audience. You're welcome!
(Washington Post via Copyranter)
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KISS bassist Gene Simmons has elevated a simmering spat with Anonymous to a new level after his website, GeneSimmons.com, was hit with a DDoS [distributed denial of service] attack earlier this week, bringing the site down.
Simmons' site was first attacked by the loosely 4chan-affiliated group as part of a broader campaign against supporters of current copyright laws, particularly as they apply to prosecuting file-sharers. According to TorrentFreak, the initial attack on Simmons' website has "caused some dispute within Anonymous, with the main group distancing themselves from the assault with a declaration that artists should not become a target, regardless of their opinions."
Following the attack, Simmons reportedly wrote:

"First, they will be punished.
Second, they might find their little butts in jail, right next to someone who's been there for years and is looking for a new girl friend.
We will soon be printing their names and pictures."

The British show Game On has a clip of an interview with KISS front man Gene Simmons, taken completely out of its original context, in which he says:

I am the voice of Guitar Hero 6.

And, due to editing, very little else. This is all well and good, except for the fact that Activision hasn't yet officially announced that they are making a Guitar Hero 6. According to Game On, the project is still in the "financial stages."
Video after the jump.
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The LA Times recently reported that Guy Ritchie is off of the Lobo movie so that he can spend his time making a sequel to Sherlock Holmes. To which we said: "They're making a Lobo movie?!"
Apparently: yes, since Joel Silver affirms that Warner Brothers is still interested in everyone's favorite genocidal Super Saiyan, space biker, KISS fan and dolphin lover; just with a different director.